475 buildings in Navi dangerous

NAVI MUMBAI: Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation (NMMC) has declared 475 buildings as dangerous in the city. The figure is the same as that declared last year before the monsoon.

NMMC releases a list of dangerous buildings every year before the monsoon.

A public notice is issued to the owners and tenants residing in the buildings as per the Maharashtra Municipal Corporation (MMC) Act Section 264 sub-sections 1, 2, 3, 4. The declaration followed a survey conducted for 2021-22.

NMMC municipal commissioner, Abhijit Bangar, said, “It is dangerous to use buildings, houses that are in a dilapidated state. There could be loss of life and property. Residents should immediately stop using such structures. In case of any untoward incident, the concerned parties will be held responsible.

“As per MMC Act, the buildings that have been in use for over 30 years should undergo structural audit by an NMMC registered civil engineer or structural engineer. A certificate from the engineer confirming completion of repair work as per recommendation and that the structure is in good condition should be submitted to NMMC.

“The organisations, owners or property holders who are lethargic in their responsibility of getting the structural audit done will be levied a penalty. The penalty will be ₹25,000 or one year property tax of the building, whichever is more, as per MMA Act Section 398 (A).”

The list of NMMC empaneled structure engineers has been published on the civic website www.nmmc.gov.in.

The structural audit of such buildings should be completed and a report submitted by September 30 to the respective ward officers and assistant director town planning, NMMC.

There has been an alarming rise in the number of dangerous buildings in the city over the past few years even as the redevelopment of CIDCO dilapidated buildings continues to be delayed due to court cases and politics.

The civic officials have issued notices to the extremely dangerous buildings. The residents have been asked to vacate their houses. Water and electric connections have been disconnected in some cases.

Girish Patil, a 47-year-old resident of JN type building in Vashi sector 9, said, “NMMC keeps releasing a list of dangerous buildings. It is not as if we do not know that our building is in a bad shape. However, with redevelopment stuck due to various reasons, we cannot afford to move. NMMC should make things simpler for redevelopment or give us an alternate place to reside.”

Meanwhile, NMMC has not given details of the break-up of the buildings to indicate which are in C1 category indicating extremely dangerous condition that should be vacated and demolished immediately. The other categories including C2A comprise buildings that should be repaired after evacuation, C2B buildings need repairs which can be undertaken with the residents residing and C3 structures need minor repairs.